The invention herein pertains to guides for screens such as roll-up screens for windows and doors and particularly pertains to guides which are adjustable to accommodate varying widths of windows.
With the increased interest in roll-up type screens used for building windows and doors, suppliers have become increasingly concerned with such screens being available for windows made by different manufacturers. Although most manufacturers and distributors sell windows of standard widths, the frames and jamb separation or spacing of some standard width windows may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. For example, windows sold as a 36xe2x80x3 (93.97 cm) may vary as much as 1xc2xdxe2x80x3 (3.81 cm), from jamb to jamb for different suppliers, thus creating a problem when purchasing a roll-up type screen. Manufacturers of such Roll-up type window screens in the past have had to either custom fit roll-up screens to a particular window or provide screens which will not fit certain windows since cutting the screens on site has proven unsatisfactory or at least difficult and time consuming.
Also, newer vinyl window jambs of double-hung windows often tend to bow or bend during raising and lowering, making screen guides difficult to properly fit and maintain screen edges.
Thus, with the problems above known throughout the industry, it is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide an adjustable screen guide and method for us e on doors, windows and the like which will maintain a sealing relation with the edges of a roll-up screen.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a screen guide which can be easily mounted in existing windows, doors or the like and can be removed easily for cleaning, painting or maintenance, purposes.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide screen guides for opposing window jambs or interior stops formed from a PVC or other conventional polymeric material which can be used either inside or outside the window as required.
It is also an objective of the present invention to provide a screen guide having a retainer which is slidably connected to a frangible stem of a base for use in making adjustments during installation.
Various other objectives, advantages and details of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.
The aforesaid and other objectives are realized by providing screen guides for windows, doors and for other openings which are positioned in opposing relation such as on left and right window jambs for use with roll-up type window screens. The screen guides can be readily removed for cleaning of xe2x80x9ctilt-outxe2x80x9d type window sashes. The edges of the screens are positioned within the guides and the screens can then be lowered and raised while maintaining a sealing relation with the window to prevent infiltration of insects, debris or the like. The screen guides are formed preferably from suitable polymeric materials such as polyvinylchloride (PVC) for ease in installation, durability and relatively low cost. Certain metals such as aluminum or other materials could also be used as desired. The guides include a retainer which has a first wide U-shaped portion for receiving the screen within. The open portions of the U""s are affixed in opposing relation, generally on left and right window jambs to allow windows of somewhat varying size openings in width to be employed. Each retainer also includes a second narrow U-shaped portion for engagement of a frangible stem on a base. The stem can be broken or cut along preformed indentations to allow it to be shortened to accommodate wider openings. The base frictionally engages a mounting member which is affixed to the window jamb by the use of screws and/or adhesives. The screen guides thus retain opposite edges of the screen in firm sliding relation to the window jambs to prevent unwanted insect infiltration while being adjustable to increase or decrease the distance therebetween to accommodate windows having somewhat slightly different openings and to allow for easy guide removal for window cleaning and servicing.